Photograph a cluttered room and ask AI how to make it calmer
Susan P. Epstein, a retired psychotherapist in Connecticut who is in her late 60s, snapped photos of her cluttered living room, uploaded them to ChatGPT, and asked how to make it look better. She ended up spending four hours rearranging with it, and the project spread to three more rooms.
What they did
She noticed that piles of magazines, unopened junk mail, and stray cords had built up over a few years. She took pictures of the room with her iPhone and asked ChatGPT, "How can I make this look better?" She wanted calm, clear surfaces, "a sort of mid-century Zen feeling." ChatGPT's blunt answer after looking at the photos: "You'll need to remove about forty percent of the items in this room."
How it went
She was indignant at first, then decided to treat it like a game. Paintings came down a few inches, since most had been hung too high. Furniture moved, plants were grouped, and the piano corner became inviting again. Then she did the dining room and two bedrooms. Along the way she kept the things that mattered, like her mother's needlepoint pillows and poetry books she and her father read together, and found an old photo of her mother at her prom. "I was arranging a life," she writes.
Worth knowing
Before you upload photos, look for anything private: mail with your address, family photos, documents, or screens showing accounts. Move it out of the shot or crop it. AI can't tell how heavy a piece of furniture is or how steady your ladder is, so get help with lifting and hanging. The AI can suggest what to clear out, but you decide what stays. Keepsakes don't have to go just because a room looks tidier without them.
Try it yourself
Copy this into ChatGPT (or any AI assistant). Replace the parts in [brackets] with your own details.
Here are [number] photos of my [room]. I want it to feel [calm / open / cozy] and easier to keep tidy. I'm keeping [items that matter to me] no matter what. Please (1) tell me roughly how much to clear out and which kinds of items to start with, (2) suggest where to move furniture, plants, and art, including whether pictures are hung at a good height, and (3) give me a step-by-step plan I can do in short sessions, marking any step that needs a second person for lifting or a ladder. I've cropped out mail, papers, and family photos.
Source: Susan P. Epstein, Between Sessions (Substack), Jul 16, 2026. Read the original →
First-hand account by the person who did it. Summarized in our own words. Spotted a mistake or want this removed? Tell us.